LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1788, 13 November 1879, Page 3

LITERATURE.

THE MAGIC CUE. It was the cherished design of my father that I should become a clergyman. My mother secretly hoped that I would turn out a poet. An une’e who took a deep interest in my welfare, confidently prophesied that I was destined to be a physician, while my grandfather stubbornly held to the belief that I was intended by nature for a lawyer. In view of all these exalted designs, hopes, prophesies, 'and'.intentions, it Is not, perhaps, to be wondered at that I fulfilled none of them. Instead of a poet, a physician, or'a I became tho keeper of a billiard-room. From the ’ time I first blossomed into roundabouts the ivory balls possessed forme a fascination which I could not resist. The one lumbering old billiard-table which had found its way into tho sleepy New England village where I lived was the idol of my budding affections, the day star of my vealy existence. Upon that shrine I offered up tho sacrifices of long-hoarded pennies, and in the zeal of my devotion. Incurred the risk of many a flogging. If I surreptitiously made away with my mother’s copper teakettle, it was to sell the metal to get money for billiards. If I failed in my lesson at scbool, it was becanae J had spent too much

tine ;'a studying billiards. If I played truant, it was to play billiardr. The ambition ot mybfe was bounded by the four cushions of the billiard-table, and the only sceptre I ever dreamed of wielding was a cue. In church I managed to keep awake through many a sermon which stretched its weary length into “ tenthly” by speculating f n the possibility of making a carom from the knob on tbo corner of the pulpit to the minister’s bald head. I speak of these things to show how completely, even at that early age, my mind was taken up by the game. The tendency, first developed in roundabouts, strengthened with years. I drifted away from home, and turned my face towards the West. There, at two-and-twenty, in the bracing atmosphere of Cara n city, with the modest inheritance which others had variously planned to expend in theology, pills, and Blackstone, I established myself as the proprietor of a billiard-room.

Measured by the standard of the town, I was an expert with the cue. Measured by the achievements of professional players, I was little more than a beginner. However, es my skill was sufficient to beat any of my patrons, and to win for me considerable local renown, I rested content. The society of Carson City in those days was delightfully free from the fetters of conventionality. Gentlemen for the most part'earried the law Jin their own hands—and in their hip pockets If it so ha pened that a dispute arose over a game of bil iards, the matter was at once settled by amappeal to the statutes, as expounded by a six shootfr. go that it sometimes happened that before a gentleman had finished his string he ceased to take any interest whatever in the game. There was nothing monotonous ahont keeping a billiardroom in Carson City in those days. And, while I permitted the utmost freedom to my patrons, I was obliged to display, in a conspicuous place over the bar, this warning

Gentlemen are Particularly Requested Not to Fire Pistols Across the Billiard Tables. The ‘ Ivory’—for that was the name by which my room was known —had been in successful operation some three months when, one September morning, a stranger sauntered in with a billiard cue in his hand. Strangers were common enough in Carson City, but not! of this sort. I looked him over with undisguised astonishment. He was a man of medium height, and perhaps thirty years old. His nationality was a puzzle. There was a Spanish cast to his features, a hint of the Mexican in his complexion, a suggestion of the Indian in his eyes and hair, but his manner was that of a French count, and his dress would have done credit to a Fifth-avenue beau. It was this last, perhaps, which chiefly attracted my attention. A shirt-front of immaculate whiteness, upon which glistened a small but wonderfully brilliant diamond; a silk hat, shining resplendently ; a broadcloth coat and a pair of lavender trousers; neatly fitting boots, polished to a state of absolute perfection—these were things so rarely seen in the Ivory that it was only natural they should call for scrutiny. The two-or three residents of Caisoa City who were lounging about the bar when the stranger entered made no attempt to conceal their amazement. They stared long and hard, and, finding no words in which to express their astonishment, winked solemnly at one another, and then resumed their staring. To a nervous man this would have been embarrassing ; but it did not seem in the least to disconcert the stranger. Swinging the cue gracefully in his hand, he made his way np to the bar, noided pleasantly to Billings, the young man employed to dispense liquids in the Ivory, and then, half turning to the loungers, said: — ‘ What is it, gentlemen ?’ The residents of Carson City arose with prompt unanimity and named their several poisons Connecticut Bill took whisky straight; Four-fingered Harry selected rum without gum ; Scripture George, true to Ms first-love, called for gin, ‘ And yours ?’ , continued the stranger, turning to me * Oh, he don’t drink!’ explained Connecticut Bill.

The stranger merely elevated Us eyebrows, bowed politely, and poured out a couple of fingers of brandy. ‘ My best regards, and better acquaintance, gentlemen 1’ JHLo tossed off llqnrvr neat, and. the throe residents of Carson City followed his example, ‘ Yon might be a stranger to these parts S’ observed Scripture George, as he drew his shirt sleeve across hia mouth. ‘ You are right,’ was the answer. ‘ And for that matter, I am a stranger everywhere. A traveller, gentleman. I see you are abreast of the times here,’ glancing, as he spoke, towards the tables. ‘ Neat place, this. Do any of you play billiards gentlemen ?’ ‘ We allow that Mr Preston there can punch the balls agan anybody in that ere lino of business,’ said Connecticut Bill, nodding his head towards me, and speaking with the utmost assurance. * Indeed ? I shall be very glad to try a friendly game with Mr Preston, if it be agreeable to him.’ ‘ Certainly,' I answered, The confidence in my skill felt by the residence of Carson City was not, on this occasion, shared by me. I held it to be part cf my duty to engage in a game with anybody who might drop into the Ivory ; and, so far as my regular patrons were concerned, it was an easy task to beat them as often as I pleased. But while my ability to double discount Scripture George was a matter of endless wonder to Carson city, it fell far short of convincing me that I was a great player. Something about this stranger, with his Spanish face, his French manners, and his grammatical English, satisfied me at once that he was an expert with the balls. And this belief was doubtless strengthened by the fact of his carrying his own cue. The Ivory was furnished with the oldfashioned American tables, twelve by six, with four pockets each. The stranger led off in an ordinary game of one hundred points, counting according to the American system. It was two early in the day for my usual patrons to make their appearance, and the only spectators wa had were Connecticut Bill, Pour-fingered Harry, Scripture George, and Billings; Naturally, the sympathies of this assemblage were with the Carson city representative, and from the outset I had no lack of encouragement. But from the outset I saw that my antagonist was superior. The fact that I won the game did not alter my opinion in this respect. I saw plainly enough, what was not visible to Scripture George, that the stranger throw up the game when he might have won it half-a-dozen times, ‘ That thar is what yon might call billiards 1’ remarked Connecticut Bill with supreme complacency, when I had finished my score with a run of twenty. ‘Mr Preston plays an excellent game,’ returned the stranger. ‘He does credit to your city.’ (To he continued.)